A monument. Contra redefines the 8-bit run'n'gun with frantic arcade action, a legendary Konami code, and two-player co-op that remains among the best in video game history.
Your verdict
Category
Action1 player12+
Co-op
Description
Legendary cooperative run-and-gun featuring Bill and Lance battling the Red Falcon army in jungle and base levels. Published by Konami, released in the USA. Bill and Lance in side-scrolling view with spread shot, machine gun and laser, two-player co-op and demanding difficulty. A founding run-and-gun game and absolute Konami masterpiece on Famicom.
Contra review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
1/5
Story
★★★★★
"Anecdotal"
A pillar of run-and-gun, Konami's music chains martial themes and heroic melodies of galvanising energy, from the legendary "Jungle" to the final assault. Each level pulses with an intensity that charges the unleashed two-player action. This cult soundtrack, etched in memory, remains inseparable from the Contra legend.
Gameplay
"Masterful"
Blasting through side by side while grabbing weapon power-ups and dodging a torrent of fire lays the foundation for an exhilaratingly fast run-and-gun. The spread gun and the co-op are what made the title a legend. Short but utterly intense, it retains a precise gunplay and a frantic pace that make it a high point of 8-bit action.
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
Finger on the trigger, scooping up devastating weapons and sweeping away waves of enemies in a deluge of fire: the action never lets up. With two players, co-op multiplies the intensity and the laughter. Run-and-gun finds here one of its purest expressions, snappy and demanding. An absolute classic that electrifies from the title screen.
Addictiveness
"Engaging"
Difficulty
"Punishing"
Charging through a hail of bullets where the slightest contact kills: this frantic run-and-gun leaves no margin, between crossfire, relentless enemies and towering bosses. Picking the right weapon, memorizing the waves and keeping a cool head make all the difference. Demanding yet perfectly readable, it laid the genre's foundations and remains a cult trial for 8-bit action fans.
The US NES 'Contra' (Konami, 1988), the iconic run-and-gun of the console's flagship market. A massively distributed hit, the loose cart stays common and accessible, yet the title is a pillar of American NES nostalgia and of any Western Konami collection. Interest shifts firmly toward graded sealed copies, which saw a spectacular surge, and toward a flat US cardboard box, harder to find than the cart itself.
Memorable bosses
A pure, twitchy run-and-gun, the assault on the alien invader peaks on spectacular guardians: armored walls to demolish piece by piece, swarming creatures and a beating extraterrestrial heart. Faced in two-player, these standoffs turn dodging and constant fire into a ballet under fire. Their sheer scale and frantic pace made them a benchmark of 8-bit action.
Is Contra still worth playing in 2026?
Contra on NES remains an absolute monument of 8-bit run and gun. Konami delivers frenetic arcade pacing, a shooting grammar of rare precision and a two-player co-op among the most memorable in gaming history. The legendary thirty-lives code is part of pop culture. Difficulty is brisk, one-hit deaths constant, but memorisation rewards richly. For classic run and gun fans and Konami heritage lovers, still an absolute must today, ideally played in co-op on original hardware.
